2014 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle 750 ml

Paul Jaboulet Aîné’s La Chapelle is one of the rare Northern Rhône reds that stands with the most collectible wines in the world.

But to experience its full glory, you must wait. 

Painstakingly grown on the most sacred spots on Hermitage Hill, La Chapelle is a quintessential example of ageworthy Northern Rhone Syrah, and it blooms as the years go by. Unfortunately, since most bottles are squirreled away by collectors as soon as they’re released, immaculate specimens—let alone ones that come straight from France—can be hard to find. 

However, our last trip to the Northern Rhône netted us an extremely fortuitous allocation: 120 bottles of Jaboulet’s flawlessly aged 2014 vintage. For anyone who relishes the gorgeous character of collectible reds—or anyone who has yet to taste a perfectly cellared bottle of Hermitage—this is for you. 

La Chapelle is sourced from the lieux-dits of Le Méal and Les Bessards, two of the most renowned parcels on Hermitage Hill. Les Bessards produces robust, tannic wines and serves as the backbone of La Chapelle, while richness and fruit come from the lush-producing Le Méal. 

Jaboulet, which Wine Spectator calls “one of the most recognizable names in the wine world,” is a mixture of the ancient and the modern. The domaine is now owned by the Frey family, who have thoroughly revamped the winemaking and converted some of the most famed parcels to organic viticulture.  

Whenever we’ve tasted at Jaboulet’s tiny wine bar in Tain l’Hermitage, we’ve always looked forward: We think of pulling the iconic reds out of the cellar in five or ten—or 20!—years’ time and reveling in the glory that only bottle-age can draw out of Northern Rhône Syrah.